Kandy (Maha Nuwara) is the charming hill capital of Sri Lanka and the island’s second largest city. At an elevation of 465 meters above sea level, Kandy is located 129 Km North-East of Colombo. Nestling midst low hills, and looped by the Mahaweli river; Kandy is the country’s religious and cultural center and a World Heritage City. The city was born in the 14th century and became the capital of the Kandyan kingdom in the 16th century. It was the seat of much of Sri Lanka’s cultural. The Royal City fell to the British in 1815, when the last Canadian King, Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe was captured. For Buddhists, Kandy is the sacred city. The focal point is the Dalada Maligawa also known as the temple of the tooth, where the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha is enshrined. There are many shrines and temples in and around Kandy, where you will see rare paintings, frescoes, wood and stone carvings. Kandy is still the home of the arts and crafts, music and dance and song which flourished under the patronage of the Kandyan Kings.
The beautiful city, surrounded by hills and valleys, rivers, lakes and cascading waterfalls, boasts of the Royal Botanical gardens at Peradeniya. Kandy is an exciting place for shopping with souvenirs of wood, copper, silver, brass and bronze. Ceramics, lacquer work, handlooms, batiks, jewellery, rush and reed- ware too could be purchased. While in Kandy, an outing to a tea factory as well as a tea plantation should also be made to witness first hand, the process that leads to the creation of the famous ‘Ceylon Tea’.
Kandy Perehara : 
On the Esala full moon day of August each year, the sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha, encased in a golden casket, is taken in procession, on the back of the temple elephant along the streets of Kandy for all to see. This ritual, which has been taking place for hundreds of years, is an experience of a lifetime. Scores of elephants all dressed in their finery, Kandyan chiefs in their traditional royal attire, thousands of dancers, drummers, flag bearers, and Buddhist monks, all walk in procession in honour of Lord Buddha. Thousands of people line the streets of Kandy to get a glimpse of the golden casket and to pay homage to Lord Buddha.